Fadnavis urges CM Thackeray to rethink on stopping fellowship programme

BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday wrote a letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, urging him to reconsider his decision of discontinuing the CM fellowship programme.

Fadnavis said he has written the letter in the wake of the state government's decision to stop the programme from March 31, 2020. The Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Legislative Assembly said that discontinuing the programme abruptly midway will send a wrong message about the government among the youth.

"By involving the youth, the government gains from their ideas, innovation and energy. The fellows participated only in the administration," he said in the letter. Fadnavis also said that during his tenure as the state chief minister, he had never used the programme "for political means."

The Chief Minister's Fellowship Programme was started in 2015 with the aim of involving young professionals in various key initiatives and departments of the state government.